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Posted at 12:30 PM EST.

9:00 PM EST. Was there a less impressive 19-point win than the Warriors' 122-103 romp over the Cavaliers on Sunday night? Cleveland kept the game close pretty much throughout and even won the third quarter, which had been a time of the game where the Warriors had done most of their damage after sleepwalking through most of the season including these playoffs. Fox Sports' Skip Bayless tweeted, "Long, weird first quarter. GS shot 65%, scored 32 - lead only by 4. Advantage, LeBron," and he's not wrong. The Warriors played out of their minds with Steph Curry throwing up bombs that hit their target from all over the court and yet the Dubs still didn't pull away until the late stages of the fourth quarter. It's hard not to follow Skip's thought process that Cleveland somehow walked away from those first two games with far less than they should have, but this is also an important reminder to ignore all the crap spewed from these loud mouth blowhards that get paid to say whatever it takes to elicit a passionate response and generate ratings. Love him or hate him, Bayless is great at his job because he does just that.

History can be a funny thing. In regards to this series, a popular narrative is that this Game 3 has been the Cavs' "best" game when it comes to their multiple Finals matchups with Golden State but those contests mean nothing now. Who cares if Cleveland smashed the Warriors by 30 two springs ago? For comparison's sake, down 0-2 in June of 2017, the Cavaliers were 4-point pooches after getting cracked by 21 in Oakland in Game 2. Sound familiar? In that game, Cleveland was up four with 1:22 to play before a Kevin Durant 3-pointer with just :45 seconds to go put a stake in the Cavs' hearts. The Dubs never looked back in that 118-113 win and cover for the 3-0 series lead.

The big difference this time around is that the Warriors have looked like crap compared to last year's iteration, while LeBron is playing absolutely out of his mind and is leaving little doubt about who the best player on the planet is. That, combined with those past results seem to be enough for many pick sellers and pundits to suggest that LeBron doesn't "want" to get swept because it would be bad for his legacy and that they "think" the Cavs can bounce back with a bigger contribution from the rest of the scrubs in Wine and Gold.

Take this gem from a site that needs your $50 for a week of premium plays:

"The third game of a series is also usually the game where if a sweep is going to be prevented, it's here. It's also worth mentioning that neither of the first two games were wall-to-wall blowouts. The Cavs should have won game one and were in game two for about 36 minutes. That should give them some sort of confidence coming back home. The Cavs have also covered eight of their last 12 home games when an underdog of at least five points."

See the useless road trends that can influence one’s mind?

Meanwhile, the Cavs prevented the sweep last season in Game 4, not that that matters any more than their big win in 2016. Also, how can anyone predict what kind of mindset the Cavs might be in? Have you seen the video of LeBron entirely shutting out his teammates after J.R. Smith's blunder at the end of Game 1? Do you think stone cold killers like Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant would have sat there like a petulant child as their team still had a fighting chance to steal a critical game in the goddamn NBA Finals? During the commercial, LeBron didn't even look at Smith and by the time his now famous "WTF?" meme had gone viral, his lip service in favor of his battered teammate fell on deaf ears. Smith was god awful in Game 2 after starting out 2/6 from the field. He would miss another three shots over the course of the game, but it was clear he was mentally broken as the Oracle crowd chanted, "M-V-P! M-V-P!" on his trip to the foul line early in the first frame.

This line opened with the Cavs taking back five points on their home floor and we have to admit at first glance it seemed that that number was way too low considering Game 2's lopsided box score. However, for the reasons mentioned above and based on the market pouncing on that number and driving it down to 4½, we would not be surprised if it hit four by tip-off. The Cavs money line has also come down from +175 to +160 at Bet365, as the market seems determined to get what it feels is rightfully theirs, a Cleveland victory.

Do we "think" LeBron James wants to get swept? Of course not, but what we "think" isn't worth the word doc these words aren't printed on. If thoughts and feelings could cash big deals, we'd all be f*cking rich. If the Cavs bring it all tonight and somehow prevent their inevitable demise then so be it, but what kind of lead are they going to need before you can really feel good about that bet? The Warriors can cover just about any number in a matter of seconds if motivated to do so, as they proved in this spot last season. While that result has no bearing here, we're willing to bet the Dubs don't leave any doubt this time around. Swallow the points.

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